Where does a person look when he lies? How can the direction of gaze indicate that a person is lying? These two questions were previously asked to us by our readers in the comments on the site.

The short answer to these questions is, "to a certain extent." It's not as easy as recent TV shows or movies make it out to be. There, the detective is able to determine whether a person is lying, only on the basis of whether he is looking to the right or to the left when he speaks. In fact, it would be foolish to jump to such quick conclusions without further investigation... but a certain technique can achieve something.

So…read, think about it, and test it out with your friends and acquaintances to see for yourself how reliable it is.

The look shows the strength of the soul.
Paulo Coelho. Alchemist.

Visual Evaluation Keys - "Lying Eyes"

When a "normally organized" (non-left-handed) person is asked a question, they direct their gaze in one of six directions, as viewed from the side of the questioner looking at him:

1. Up and left

Indicates visually generated images (VS)

2. Up and right

Indicates visually recalled images (VV)

3. Left

Indicates auditory generated images (SS)

4. Right

Indicates auditory recall images (CB)

5. Down and left

6. Down and right

Indicates own dialogue (Y)

How can gaze information be used to detect lies?

Final remarks

• Looking straight ahead, or eyes that are not focused or moving, are also considered a sign of visual judgment.
• Usually, a left-handed person will demonstrate the opposite sense of the direction of the eyes.
• As with other signs of lying, you must first find out and understand the basis of a person's behavior before concluding that he is lying, based on the direction of his gaze.

Many critics believe that all of the above is just nonsense. However, practice shows that there is something in this. But who's stopping you from figuring it out on your own?
It is enough to make a list of questions, like the ones above, and offer them to friends and relatives, who will play the role of test subjects. And then observe the movements of their eyes and record the results.

When a person does not make eye contact during communication, there is often a feeling of understatement, as if he is hiding something. And usually this intuitive feeling does not deceive.

When a teenager does not make eye contact

When it comes to children, especially adolescents, this situation often arises. Parents begin to notice that a daughter or son avoids a direct look when talking, looking away or lowering them "to the floor." When asked directly, children respond that it is uncomfortable for them to look into the eyes. Why is this happening?

Usually this behavior is preceded by some kind of event, especially if earlier the child calmly looked into the eyes, and then suddenly began to experience awkwardness at visual contact. Think what it could be.

Specifically, in such a phenomenon there may be many individual reasons or a whole complex of them.

During this period of time, adolescents have their first loves, the body changes, “hormones play” - as if the whole world is changing around, and they do not know how to hide it and how to adapt themselves to numerous changes. Here it is important to give time to recover - by the age of 16-17, the child adapts to his new state and learns to communicate adequately.

When an adult does not make eye contact

When an adult avoids looking into your eyes - either he does not want to see something in you, or does not want to show something in himself, he is uncomfortable, because a huge flow of information goes through his eyes.

Maybe at this moment he is experiencing emotions that he does not want to share with you for some reason. For example, he may be angry with you or jealous of you.

No wonder they say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, sometimes they can tell the observer more than their owner would like.

When talking with a friend or girlfriend, looking away, a person may try to maintain his personal boundaries, it is uncomfortable for him to open up completely. At some moments, he may feel emotions that he would like to contain and, avoiding a direct look, he tries to do this.

Attempts to put accents on the face (glasses, beard, long bangs, cap pulled low) are also a way to divert attention from direct visual contact, a preference to remain more autonomous, secluded, protected.

What to do if a person does not make eye contact?

Do not support him in this game, do not look away in response, behave as always. Don't push him, he's uncomfortable. Most likely, something in your behavior causes an attempt to isolate yourself - perhaps you are asking unwanted questions that can be unpleasant, too formal and intrusive for the interlocutor. Turn your attention to yourself, learn to talk about your thoughts and feelings.

Other reasons why a person avoids making eye contact

Other reasons in one way or another intersect with the above:

- Feelings of insecurity

When communicating, a person behaves nervously - sorts out something, constantly touches his hair, experiences emotional excitement. Usually he does not look you in the eye because he does not know if he is behaving correctly in this situation.

- shyness

An attempt to hide their feelings is characteristic of shy people, so the person does not look into the eyes.

- Irritation

Prolonged eye contact often causes irritation - it begins to seem to the interlocutor that you are trying to unravel all his secrets,

- piercing gaze

It is unpleasant for the owner of a heavy gaze to look into the eyes, as this causes discomfort

- Not interested

Sometimes avoiding eye contact means that the interlocutor is simply not interested. This can be confirmed by yawning, frequent glancing at the clock, inventing excuses to stop communication.

- Lots of information at once

A look conveys a lot of information about another person, in order to assimilate it, you need to look away for a while.

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There are many ways to read not even a person’s thoughts, but his thoughts, his deepest hopes and fears. Everyone can develop the ability to see through people: it is enough to know about a few points in the behavior of the interlocutor that you should pay attention to. Practice "reading people" more often, get yourself into this habit, and after a while you will be impossible to deceive.

All people are different and everyone has their own habits and characteristics. Someone
sorting through objects on the table, someone wrinkles his nose funny, shakes his legs,
touches the chin. These behaviors can indicate nervousness, distrust, and more. Or they may be a habit of this person that has nothing to do with what is happening.

So it is important to determine which behaviors are the norm for a particular person. And then pay attention to any deviations from the norm, to minor changes in the behavior and facial expressions of the interlocutor. They are the very essence.

Watch from the sidelines and compare

To complete the picture, it is useful to observe the interlocutor from the side: how he
behaves before communicating with you, how it communicates with other people, what language says
his body. During a conversation with you, he will behave a little differently, he will
try to impress. By comparing what you see, you will get much
more information about the person. After the meeting, do not rush to leave either - see if his mood and behavior have changed.

Always adjust for context

All people in society unconsciously play roles and adjust a little to each other, mirroring the gestures of people they like or those they want to impress. Make allowance for the context in which the person you are trying to read is located, after all in different circles can be different rules. For example, in some countries, eyes are averted because it is customary to express respect, and not at all because of a sense of embarrassment.

Wrinkles reflect the character of a person. If a person frowns and twists his mouth for years, it will be noticeable. Facial expressions can tell a lot.

• When a person longs to be understood and convincing, he raises his eyebrows, wrinkling his forehead. People who have pronounced longitudinal wrinkles on their foreheads have been trying all their lives to establish contact with others and want to be heard.
• When you are attractive to the interlocutor, his facial muscles relax, his head tilts a little to one side, blood rushes to his lips, making them a little plump and brighter. If meeting with you is unpleasant for him, his face will be slightly tense.

• If you see a smile on a person’s face, but there are no wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, then he smiles at you insincerely - this is a fake smile. Such a smile can also indicate that the interlocutor feels uncomfortable.

• Squinting eyes during a conversation (as if a person is trying to see something small) indicate that he is trying to understand, understand, concentrate, and probably feels out of his element. If a person with a squint looks directly into your eyes, then this signals his distrust and ill will.
• Dilated pupils speak of strong sensations, of sympathy, excitement, interest. When a person quickly sorts through thoughts in his head, frantically looking for a solution, his eyes run around.
• If a person avoids direct eye contact or, on the contrary, looks too closely into your eyes, there is a high probability that he is telling a lie.

Most often, when a person remembers something, his pupils are directed either up or to the left and up. But when writing and inventing on the go, a person looks to the right and up.

Behavior in a team

In collectives, people are grouped according to the similarity of views or characters. Observe your interlocutor, find out with whom he prefers to spend time. A lot will also be said about how he behaves with people, whether he is worried about the convenience of others or unceremoniously interferes with them and does not even notice it.

• A talkative and verbose person is usually proud and touchy.
• Quiet speech and avoidance of public statements are inherent in people prone to self-criticism, assiduous and insecure.
• If the interlocutor constantly interrupts, hears only himself - he is pessimistic, distrustful and selfish.
• If a person speaks little, this does not always indicate his stiffness. Perhaps this is a sign of success: such people talk less and do more.

We feel that he should not be trusted: having sufficient experience in observing people, we subconsciously and very quickly compare the smallest details of behavior and recreate a complete picture. This is how intuition works. It can and should be developed, and it should also be listened to more often. Of course, sometimes we can make mistakes in our intuitive assessments, but gradually, with practice and experience, we will make fewer and fewer such mistakes.

Can a person, if desired, hide their true intentions, feelings and fears? Or, knowing the intricacies of behavior, facial expressions and gestures, you can figure out absolutely any person, even the biggest cunning and skillful actor? How do you think?

It has long been no secret that all people lie. They can cheat in small things or in more important things. Those who do not want to become their victim need to be prepared for such a turn of events and learn to recognize lies. To do this, you must have extensive experience in communicating with people and constantly train your own powers of observation. Learning to understand people is quite difficult, but still possible. Most often, a lie is determined by the eyes, facial expressions and gestures.

Eyes are a mirror...

When a person lies, it is often his eyes that give him away. With a desire, you can learn to control gestures or facial expressions, or think through a story to the smallest detail, but it is unlikely that you will be able to control eye movements. During a lie, a person feels very insecure and uncomfortable, so he tries to look away. If the interlocutor does not look directly into the eyes - this can be considered as the first sign of deception.

But not everything is so simple. Almost everyone knows how to detect lies in the eyes, so they use the method "on the contrary." If a person looks directly with an unblinking gaze, he may want to justify himself. An overly honest look often indicates the untruthfulness of the words of the interlocutor. It seems that he wants to penetrate the thoughts of the opponent and see if he believes him. And if a liar is taken by surprise, most likely, he will try to switch his attention or leave for another room.

It is almost impossible to control, so a person who lies has a different look. The pupil becomes much smaller than usual.

Blood to the face...

Determining lies by the eyes is not the only way to recognize lies. When a person tells a lie, tiny wrinkles appear around his eyes. Sometimes you can even see them with the naked eye. If there are doubts about the sincerity of the words of the opponent, you should carefully observe his skin around the eyes.

Four directions of the world

Thinking about the eyes, you can observe in which direction the interlocutor is looking. If his gaze is directed to the right, then he is deceiving. When people look up and straight, it means that at that moment they come up with a picture or image for themselves. To represent sounds or a phrase, the person will look to the right and straight ahead. When the script is ready, the deceiver will look to the right and down. But these rules only apply if the person is right-handed. In a left-hander, the position of the eyes is the opposite when lying.

If the gaze moves quickly from one object to another, then this is also an occasion to think about how to determine a lie in the eyes.

Guilt

Knowing the basic secrets, you can easily determine whether a person is deceiving or not. Many people during a false story experience At this time, the eyes go down, and sometimes to the side. To determine a lie, it is necessary to compare the movements of the eyeballs with the words that the opponent pronounces.

"fixed" eyes

Psychologists are sure that a frozen look is a sign that a person is telling a lie. To check this, it is enough to ask the interlocutor to remember some detail. If he continues to look straight ahead and does not blink, he is most likely not to be trusted. In the case when the opponent answers the question posed without hesitation and without changing the position of the eyes, one can suspect him of insincerity. When the number of blinks increases, this indicates that the person feels uncomfortable and wants to move away from the outside world.

But the definition of a lie by the eyes in this way is not fair in the case when the events took place ten or fifteen minutes ago. Also, do not get hung up on a fixed look when a person provides information that is very important to him, for example, an address or phone number.

A sharp look away

When communicating with a person, you can sometimes notice how he quickly looks away to the side during the story, and then looks back at the interlocutor. It is very likely that his actions indicate that he is trying to hide something.

If the interlocutor looked directly and openly throughout the conversation, and when touching on a certain topic, he began to look away or avoid direct contact, then this is one of the signs of how to recognize a lie in the eyes. But sometimes insecure and insecure people behave this way if the topic of the conversation makes them feel uncomfortable. In this case, it makes no sense to talk about deception on the basis of this sign alone.

Frightened expression

A person who cheats is always afraid of being exposed. Therefore, during a conversation, he may be a little scared. But only an experienced psychologist can distinguish him from the usual shyness in front of an unfamiliar person or an unusual situation.

Eyes are not the only indicator of lies. Analyzing the behavior of the interlocutor, it is worth evaluating the full picture: pay attention to gestures, posture and facial expressions. Any information about a person will come in handy in order to correctly match the words and the “picture”. Therefore, it is not worth doing.

Facial expressions while lying

Knowing the position of the eyes when lying is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary to observe the speech of a person, his movements and behavior. During a false story, changes are sure to be noticeable. It is necessary to evaluate facial expressions and gestures only in combination with speech and voice parameters.

Intonation and smile

When the interlocutor deceives, his speech and intonations will change. The voice may tremble, and words are spoken more slowly or, conversely, faster. Some people develop hoarseness or slip high notes. If the interlocutor is shy, then he may begin to stutter.

Smiling can also reveal insincerity. Many people smile a little when they lie. The interlocutor should be alerted if the smile is completely inappropriate. This facial expression allows you to hide a little awkwardness and excitement. But this does not apply to cheerful people who always try to smile.

Facial muscle tension

If you look at your opponent very carefully, you can figure out whether he is cheating or not. It will be given out by microtension of the facial muscles, which lasts for several seconds. No matter how “stone” the interlocutor speaks, instant tension is still inevitable.

The deceiver is betrayed not only by the position of the eyes when lying, but also by uncontrolled skin and other parts of the face. The most common include: lip twitching, rapid blinking, or changes in skin color.

Lie gestures

Well-known experts agreed that when a person cheats, he performs typical actions:

• touches the face with hands;
• covers the mouth;
• scratching your nose, rubbing your eyes, or touching your ear;
• pulls the collar on the clothes.

But all these gestures can speak of lies only when other signs of deception are present. Therefore, the most reliable is the definition of a lie by the eyes, facial expressions, movements and behavior. By learning to diagnose a lie, you can avoid the fate of the victim and always feel confident.

As practice shows, the person who often communicates with other people is able to accurately recognize lies. He must also be able to soberly perceive the situation and events, be attentive and try to notice all the nuances and subtleties of their behavior. Rich communication experience and the ability to analyze will help to correctly perceive all the information received and evaluate its reliability.

Some people ask why a person does not make eye contact when talking. Sometimes there can be several reasons for this, the reception is completely different. Therefore, it is impossible to say that a person is lying or hiding something.

Reasons why a person does not make eye contact

• Shyness or self-doubt;
• If he wants to hide something, such as affection or love;
• The insincerity of his feelings. On the contrary, he can hide something, that he is married, married or other acts;
• Heavy look. People who are very powerful have an incredibly heavy gaze that pierces and is unpleasant to others. Cold, as if empty, embittered eyes, not everyone will like it;
• Does not want to give information about himself, used to avoid answering, often lies;
• No interest in the interlocutor, fatigue.

Other reasons:

When there's just nothing to say

Looking straight ahead imposes some obligations, such as answering honestly a question that has not yet been answered. I don't want to lie, but I can't tell the truth either. That is why a person hides his gaze and leaves the answer. There can be many reasons. And not always an open “honest” supposedly look says that a person is not lying. They just perfectly withstand the eye at point blank range. Such people are accustomed to, and their eyes are quite trained.

If shy and vulnerable

Do not pay special attention to this fact. Not everyone likes to be in a close environment, many are annoyed by the crowd, views from all sides. If one is confident in himself, then the other may be in constant turmoil. Therefore, you should not judge by the look and assume that since a person does not look into the eyes, it means that he is lying, in love or wants to deceive. Maybe he's just not sure of himself or doesn't want to show his weaknesses. People are different. Education, habits or temperament very often leave their mark.

How to make a person look into the eyes?

If a person does not look into the eyes, then you can try to look into them furtively. Call for a conversation on an interesting topic, intrigue, ask a difficult question and see the reaction. Many people are open at this time. You can look at his communication with other people. If a person does not look into the eyes constantly, perhaps he has such a character. May be stubborn or hide feelings. He cannot control himself all the time, so sooner or later he will be able to look into the eyes.

Not all people like to look directly at the interlocutor. Some people don't like looking straight at all. If a person avoids looking, it does not mean that he is hiding something or not finishing, maybe he just has such a style of communication. Most often, people who look away are shy, not self-confident. Also, some people do not look in the eyes if their parents, leaders are authoritarian, or they have a habit of obeying. It’s easier to lower your eyes and say “yes” to them than to hold your gaze.